Aug 13 ,2026
Synopsis:
Asia equities ended mostly higher Thursday although off their peaks. The Kospi jumped another 3.5% and is now back in a bull market. The Nikkei outperformed the Topix with both ending higher. Taiwan stayed positive but the Hang Seng and mainland China benchmarks were choppy and finished slightly lower. Losses for Singapore, Southeast Asia and India. US futures higher, Europe seeing a positive open. US dollar DXY index hovering around 100 after an overnight surge, AUD softer on dovish RBA comments, NZD lower after inflation expectations survey. Treasuries mixed, JGB yields higher across tenors. Crude futures lower but Brent still just a fraction below $90/bl. Precious metals lower, base metals under some pressure.
Asia equities supported by another strong run in the AI-tech chain with another 5-6% gain for Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS), which sent the Kospi back into a bull market with much reduced volatility as the influence of single-stock leveraged ETFs fade and margin debt abates. Elsewhere, Hong Kong stocks driven by a series of corporate actions or earnings: Tencent (700.HK) shares finished lower as investors worried over its AI spending plans despite solid quarterly numbers; Lenovo (992.HK) beat and saw its stock surge more than 20%; Z.AI (2513.HK) and Guangdong Dtech (1377.HK) outperformed on news they are to be added to MSCI's Emerging Market index at the end of the month; Nanya Tech (2408.TT) in Taiwan higher on the same news. Australia's ASX on the back foot as its large-cap banks fail to recover from WTD falls on poor mortgage lending data.
In other developments, Bloomberg reported the Japan government now favors faster BOJ rate hikes with the next move up in September or October. Japan producer prices rose again in July. The PBOC signaled targeted support for the economy but no significant easing, and signaled a likely slower rate of appreciation for the yuan. South Korea's government is to accelerate the provision of nearly a quarter of a million homes to ease spiraling house prices in Seoul. India's CPI posted late Wednesday was steady and inline with the RBI's target.
Tencent (700.HK) more than doubled its AI spending in Q2 as it raced to catch up with rivals but investors worried about overspend. Samsonite (1910.HK) is to buy an 85% stake in US lifestyle brand Béis for $178.5M in cash. Treasury Wine (TWE.AU) earnings dropped as the world cut back on alcohol consumption and offsetting signs of growth in China. Hahn & Co- (0NTHCT-E) owned SK Shipping (06MH64-E) and H-Line Shipping will swap LNG vessels for tankers in its South Korean owned operations to create LNG shipping giant.
Digest:
Notable Gainers:
+20.2% 992.HK (Lenovo Group): reports revenue $26.94B vs StreetAccount $22.48B and non-HKFRS adjusted profit attributable $1.08B vs year-ago $389M
+10.8% 7911.JP (TOPPAN Holdings): reports Q1 revenue and operating profit ahead of FactSet estimates
+9.7% 1316.HK (Nexteer Automotive Group): reports H1 revenue $2.33B, +4% vs year-ago $2.24B
+5.0% C09.SP (City Developments): reports H1 revenue SG$2.72B, +61% vs year-ago SG$1.69B
+4.3% 4043.JP (Tokuyama): holder Oasis Management discloses 5.0% stake
+4.1% 6525.JP (Kokusai Electric): to be included in MSCI Japan Index, effective 31-Aug
+2.7% 1038.HK (CK Infrastructure Holdings): reports H1 net income attributable HK$21.25B vs year-ago HK$4.35B
+2.1% 1910.HK (Samsonite Group): to acquire 85% stake in lifestyle and travel brand BÉIS for $178.5M
+1.8% 011070.KS (LG Innotek Co.): to be included in MSCI Korea Index, effective 31-Aug
Notable Decliners:
-11.2% 035900.KS (JYP Entertainment): reports Q2 results; operating profit and revenue miss FactSet estimates
-10.4% 6141.JP (DMG MORI): to issue 15.0M shares through international offering; offering priced at ¥3,349/share
-4.5% 700.HK (Tencent Holdings): reports Q2 results
-2.8% U96.SP (SembCorp Industries): reports H1 underlying NPAT SG$369M, (25%) vs year-ago SG$491M
Data:
Economic:
Japan July
CGPI +7.2% y/y vs consensus +7.4% and revised +7.3% in prior month
New Zealand Q3
Inflation expectations +2.3% versus +2.5% in prior quarter
Markets:
Nikkei: 784.53 or +1.16% to 68308.59
Hang Seng: (43.66) or (0.17%) to 25396.51
Shanghai Composite: (19.71) or (0.50%) to 3926.96
Shenzhen Composite: (25.40) or (0.97%) to 2581.59
ASX200: (20.90) or (0.23%) to 9188.50
KOSPI: 234.30 or +3.56% to 6813.34
SENSEX: (105.66) or (0.14%) to 77860.69
Currencies:
$-¥: (0.05) or (0.03%) to 159.3690
$-KRW: +4.99 or +0.35% to 1423.0430
A$-$: (0.00) or (0.19%) to 0.7047
$-INR: +0.02 or +0.02% to 95.4080
$-CNY: (0.00) or (0.01%) to 6.7437
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